sooner n houston
6/13/2006, 01:22 PM
Baytown men charged in capital murder
By Ken Fountain
Baytown Sun
Published June 13, 2006
The investigation of a burglary at the Palais Royal store on Garth Road ultimately led Liberty County authorities to file capital murder charges against two Baytown men in the kidnapping and slaying of Dayton resident Bobby McCartney.
Five others are charged in Harris County with engaging in organized crime in the store burglary. According to police, all seven are associated with the Aryan Brotherhood, a racist gang long known for engaging in organized crime.
McCartney’s nude body was found on County Road 611 in West Liberty County early Friday morning, according to Chambers County Sheriff’s Captain Phillip Fairchild. An autopsy performed by the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s office showed McCartney died of “stab wounds,” said Fairchild, who would not disclose the number or location of wounds.
McCartney, 49, who worked as a deckhand on a tugboat out of Galveston, was reported missing Friday by his sister, Karen Lowe, with whom he resided in Baytown when he wasn’t working.
He had gone to the Baytown Wal-Mart store to buy fishing tackle for a fishing trip he was planning to go on with his nephew, said Kittie Holloway, a lifelong family friend who described McCartney as “just like a brother.”
McCartney was also going to withdraw money from the Community Resource Credit Union location on Decker Drive and visit a nearby pharmacy, Holloway said.
Holloway and Leah Williams, McCartney’s niece, said family members became concerned when he didn’t return within a few hours and did not answer repeated calls to his cell phone. But Lowe was not able to file a missing person’s report with Baytown Police until Friday. By that time, the investigation of the apparently unrelated Palais Royal burglary led to the identification of McCartney's body.
Baytown Detective Sgt. Eric Freed said police acted on a Crime Stoppers tip Friday morning that led them to a some of the stolen merchandise and McCartney's wallet.
Police arrested suspects at houses on Lantern Lane and on Morrell Street where they found Michael Faught, 22, in the backyard trying to burn McCartney's wallet in a coffee can.
Police had already located McCartney’s truck parked in the driveway at a nearby house on Park Street.
Authorities soon connected the discovery of the body with the missing person’s report, and Liberty County investigators and the Texas Rangers went to the Morrell Street location to assist in the investigation.
Some of the seven people arrested implicated Faught and Randall Wayne Carter, 30, in the slaying, Fairchild said.
The investigation revealed that McCartney was kidnapped at gunpoint while he was driving in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The apparent motive for the kidnapping was to steal his pickup truck for spare parts, he said.
All seven suspects appeared Harris County’s 351st District Court Monday, charged with the first-degree offense of engaging in criminal activity, said Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer. That charge carries a range of punishment of five years to life imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
Carter pleaded guilty to the organized crime charge, and state district Judge Mark Kent Ellis sentenced him to 15 years in state prison, according to a court employee.
Fairchild said his office has issued a warrant for Carter and Faught on the capital murder charge, but authorities have not yet set a court hearing for either defendant. Faught is being held without bond in the Harris County Jail.
The five others charged with engaging in organized crime are: Brandie Jane Thomas, 24; Jerry Woodward, 28; his wife, Francis Woodward, 23 (who is also listed as Francis Faught on a Harris County court Web site); and Stacy Kane Johnson, 26. They are each being held on $300,000 bond.
Jerry Woodward is set for arraignment today, and Francis Woodward is set for arraignment July 6. Faught, Johnson and Thomas are set for arraignment on July 18.
Holloway said Bobby McCartney was uncommonly generous.
“He would give the shirt off his back to a stranger. He was one of the good guys,” Holloway said.
She said McCartney, an avid outdoorsman, loved to go fishing with his nephew and nieces. He also loved skiing, bicycling playing tennis and paintball, said Leah Williams, his niece.
“My son Bobby called him ‘Monkey Boy,’ because he was always jumping on him,” said Williams, 23.
Williams said McCartney was very sentimental about his family. Just days before his death, he had recited to her a poem she wrote about him when she was 14 and they were on a fishing trip together, called “The Catch.”
By Ken Fountain
Baytown Sun
Published June 13, 2006
The investigation of a burglary at the Palais Royal store on Garth Road ultimately led Liberty County authorities to file capital murder charges against two Baytown men in the kidnapping and slaying of Dayton resident Bobby McCartney.
Five others are charged in Harris County with engaging in organized crime in the store burglary. According to police, all seven are associated with the Aryan Brotherhood, a racist gang long known for engaging in organized crime.
McCartney’s nude body was found on County Road 611 in West Liberty County early Friday morning, according to Chambers County Sheriff’s Captain Phillip Fairchild. An autopsy performed by the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s office showed McCartney died of “stab wounds,” said Fairchild, who would not disclose the number or location of wounds.
McCartney, 49, who worked as a deckhand on a tugboat out of Galveston, was reported missing Friday by his sister, Karen Lowe, with whom he resided in Baytown when he wasn’t working.
He had gone to the Baytown Wal-Mart store to buy fishing tackle for a fishing trip he was planning to go on with his nephew, said Kittie Holloway, a lifelong family friend who described McCartney as “just like a brother.”
McCartney was also going to withdraw money from the Community Resource Credit Union location on Decker Drive and visit a nearby pharmacy, Holloway said.
Holloway and Leah Williams, McCartney’s niece, said family members became concerned when he didn’t return within a few hours and did not answer repeated calls to his cell phone. But Lowe was not able to file a missing person’s report with Baytown Police until Friday. By that time, the investigation of the apparently unrelated Palais Royal burglary led to the identification of McCartney's body.
Baytown Detective Sgt. Eric Freed said police acted on a Crime Stoppers tip Friday morning that led them to a some of the stolen merchandise and McCartney's wallet.
Police arrested suspects at houses on Lantern Lane and on Morrell Street where they found Michael Faught, 22, in the backyard trying to burn McCartney's wallet in a coffee can.
Police had already located McCartney’s truck parked in the driveway at a nearby house on Park Street.
Authorities soon connected the discovery of the body with the missing person’s report, and Liberty County investigators and the Texas Rangers went to the Morrell Street location to assist in the investigation.
Some of the seven people arrested implicated Faught and Randall Wayne Carter, 30, in the slaying, Fairchild said.
The investigation revealed that McCartney was kidnapped at gunpoint while he was driving in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The apparent motive for the kidnapping was to steal his pickup truck for spare parts, he said.
All seven suspects appeared Harris County’s 351st District Court Monday, charged with the first-degree offense of engaging in criminal activity, said Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer. That charge carries a range of punishment of five years to life imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
Carter pleaded guilty to the organized crime charge, and state district Judge Mark Kent Ellis sentenced him to 15 years in state prison, according to a court employee.
Fairchild said his office has issued a warrant for Carter and Faught on the capital murder charge, but authorities have not yet set a court hearing for either defendant. Faught is being held without bond in the Harris County Jail.
The five others charged with engaging in organized crime are: Brandie Jane Thomas, 24; Jerry Woodward, 28; his wife, Francis Woodward, 23 (who is also listed as Francis Faught on a Harris County court Web site); and Stacy Kane Johnson, 26. They are each being held on $300,000 bond.
Jerry Woodward is set for arraignment today, and Francis Woodward is set for arraignment July 6. Faught, Johnson and Thomas are set for arraignment on July 18.
Holloway said Bobby McCartney was uncommonly generous.
“He would give the shirt off his back to a stranger. He was one of the good guys,” Holloway said.
She said McCartney, an avid outdoorsman, loved to go fishing with his nephew and nieces. He also loved skiing, bicycling playing tennis and paintball, said Leah Williams, his niece.
“My son Bobby called him ‘Monkey Boy,’ because he was always jumping on him,” said Williams, 23.
Williams said McCartney was very sentimental about his family. Just days before his death, he had recited to her a poem she wrote about him when she was 14 and they were on a fishing trip together, called “The Catch.”